Waterproof shield for the protection



July 10, 1956 s'n 2,753,568

WATERPROOF SHIELD FOR THE PROTECTION OF MENS LOWERFART GARMENTS Filed Aug. 5, 1955 WATERPROUF SHIELD FOR THE PROTECTION OF MENS LOWERPART GARMENTS Horace Franklin Austin, Kansas City, Mo.

Application August 3, 1953, Serial No. 371,929

ll Claim. (Cl. 2231) This invention relates to improvements in mens leg garments and more particularly to the provision of structure for protecting such garments from discoloration and other deleterious effects resulting from secretions emanating from the males genital organ, particularly when such secretions are caused by kidney disorders or inabihty to control the bladder.

Discoloration of mens outer garments is quite common and presents an extremely dilficult problem so far as cleaning is concerned. The difliculty becomes even more aggravated when an excess of uric acid or urates are excreted, particularly if such excretion cannot be fully con trolled and quite frequently the inner garments are incapable of sufliciently absorbing such acids to prevent their passage into and through the trousers or other outer garments.

It is the most important object of the present invention therefore, to provide a shield disposed and properly located within the garment adjacent the crotch and fly seams to prevent passage of the excretions through the garment.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a shield of flexible material mounted, or adapted for mounting as above set forth, within the trousers or the like, which material is also impermeable to the passage of the aforementioned secretions or excretions therethrough.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a shield that includes a facing on that surface thereof next adjacent the male genital organ, of soft, absorbent material for collecting the secretions and thereby preventing the same from passage to the garment.

Other objects include the way in which the panel is provided with a sheet of flexible material permeable to the passage of the secretions and so mounted upon the panel as to present an absorbent-receiving pocket.

The manner in which the panel is mounted on the garment by stitching, buttons or other suitable fasteners, and many more minor objects will be made clear as the following specification progresses.

ln the drawing:

Figure l is a fragmentary, elevational vieW of a mans leg garment showing the same turned inside out to illustrate the protecting shield hereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken on line II--ll of Fig. l; and

Pig. 3 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken on line ill-III of Fig. 1.

As will hereinafter become apparent, the waterproof shield forming the subject matter of the present invention may be adapted for use with virtually any mans leg garment including trousers, pants, bathing trunks, shorts and the like.

The lowerpart garment for men chosen for illustration in the drawing, is broadly designated by the numeral and includes a waist 12, a fly broadly designated by the numeral 14, and a pair of legs 16 and 18. The fly or lap 14 of garments of this type provided to conceal a States atent 2,753,568 Patented July 10, 1956 row of buttons, zipper, or the like, is conventionally secured in place by fly seams 20 and 22 that extend from the waist 12 to the crotch 24 of garment 10. Similarly, legs 16 and 18 are provided with seams 26 and 28 respec tively, extending from the seams 20 and 22 at the crotch 24.

The protecting shield 30 shown in the drawing is in the nature of a flat panel of flexible material such as rubber, plastic or synthetic rubber impermeable to the passage of secretions from the male genital organ, and has a facing 32 proximal to said genital organ made from soft, absorbent material such as cotton, wool or the like forming a part of the panel 30. The dress face 32 may consist of a raised pile or nap brushed or otherwise applied to one face of the panel 30 in the usual manner.

The shield 30 is mounted within the garment 10 either along the seams 20 and 26 to one side thereof as shown in Fig. 1, or along the seams 22 and 28, depending upon whether the garment 10 is adapted for left or right dress.

The manner of securing the shield to the garment 10 adjacent the seams 2t) and 26 may be chosen to suit the desires of the manufacturer, and in the drawing, panel 30 is shown secured in place at the time of manufacture of the garment 10 through use of the seams 2t and 26. Alternately, a separate line of stitching along the seams 20 and 22 may be used. Still further, buttons and buttonholes, snap fasteners, or any other suitable fastening instrumentalities may be provided as a means of releasably securing the panel 30 to the garment 10.

In extreme cases it may be desirable to provide a panel 34 having a sheet of material such as fabric 36, secured to facing 38 thereof by a line of stitching 40 that continues along the leg seam 26. Facing 38 may be of any suitable porous fabric. The sheet 36 forms a pocket 42 open as at 44 along the uppermost edge thereof for receiving a suitable absorbent that will collect the secretions and prevent the same from discoloring the garment 10.

Normally, it will be unnecessary to utilize both shields 3t) and 34, but in the drawing, shield 34 is shown mounted upon the shield 30 through the medium of a plurality of buttons 46 secured to the shield 30 and which are received by corresponding buttonholes 43 in the shield 34. Manifestly, if the shield 30 is to be eliminated when using shield 34, the latter may be secured to the garment 10 by stitching through buttons and buttonholes, snap fasteners or other means of attachment as above indicated.

The shape and the weight of the shield holds the same in place and, to this end, it is to be noted that the shield extends a considerable distance beyond the seams 20 and 26 to one side thereof and, of course, the same may be made to project further along the seam 26 into the leg 16 if desired, or to a height closely approaching the waist 12 if such should become necessary.

The shield is adapted to lie flatly against the inner face of the garment 10 and will, therefore, not present any noticeable or uncomfortable bulkiness, and it may be cleaned simultaneously with cleaning of the garment or, if separable fastening means is utilized, the protecting device hereof may be removed for individual cleaning.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In combination with a mans leg garment having at waist, a crotch, a fly seam extending from the waist to the crotch, and a leg seam extending from the crotch, a substantially crescent-shaped protector within the garment on one side of the fly, having a free arcuate edge and a pair of straight, angularly displaced edges, one of the straight edges extending along the fly seam and the other straight edge extending along said leg seam, said protector including a waterproof shield and a pocket-forming memher, said shield engaging the garment and said seams securing the same thereto, said protector and said garment being otherwise separate, said member including a porous panel, coextensive in size and shape with the shield, and a fabric sheet stitched to the panel along said arcuate edge and saidothe r straight edgegthe panel being between the h ld i itll lie he t/ aid he' jhavi a tr gi tie g ra er ,the panel from the areuate edge, inte"rmediat e the end of the latter, to the point of merger between said angtnlarly displaced edges, presenting an open top, absorbent-receiving pocket between the panel and the sheet; and buttons and buttonholes along the angularly displaced edges r eleas ably attaching the member to the shield, said n ernber and said shield being otherwise separate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STAIES PATENTS Elterich Nov. 26, Lawrence Oct. 20, Alsop Oct. 23, Alsop Jan. 11, Brown Q. July 27, Paige Jan. 31, Hermanson et all Aug. 25, 

